Saturday, February 16, 2013

TN House Week in Review

Posted by
Sean Braisted

This week in the Tennessee State House the topic of
education was at the forefront of the debate. Legislation that would limit
local control of charter schools in Memphis and Nashville was moved out of
subcommittee, and legislators were informed of the poor progress and
questionable practices of the for-profit virtual school company K12, Inc. In
addition, legislation that would allow for handgun permit holders to carry
their firearms virtually everywhere moved forward, as well as a bill to end
Medicare in Tennessee
and move senior citizens onto TennCare.

State Charter Authorizer goes forward

State Rep. Mark White (R-Memphis) has introduced legislation
(HB702)
on behalf of Speaker of the House Beth Harwell that would take control of
charter schools away from locally elected school boards and give it to a state
board of education that is appointed by the Governor.

During the hearing, Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville) questioned
why the legislation would only apply to the Nashville
and Memphis
school boards, asking “why public policy should just apply to those two
communities. If it is good enough for those two, why would you just make it
statewide?” Watch the
video.

Also testifying on the proposed legislation was Metro
Nashville School Board Member Amy Frogge. Frogge, who won her seat last year by
a 2-1 margin despite being outspent 5 to 1 by a charter school proponent, stood
up to represent a “strong, silent majority here in Nashville who are vehemently
opposed to bills like this.” Frogge implored the committee to “hear from
parents and those who will be directly impacted by this bill.” Watch video here.

Despite pleas from local parents and school board members,
the House Education Subcommittee passed the legislation on to the full
committee by a 6 to 3 vote. It is scheduled to be heard again on Tuesday,
February 19th in the House
Education Committee.

Democrats move to close poor performing for-profit virtual school

The day after a news
story by News Channel 5’s Phil Williams broke alleging a potential
grade-fixing scheme by the K12, Inc. operated TennesseeVirtualAcademy, the House Education
Subcommittee heard legislation that would limit or abolish this underperforming
and highly controversial experiment.

Passed in 2011 despite overwhelming evidence of poor
performance nationwide, the Tennessee Virtual Schools Act allowed the
for-profit Virginia based firm K12, Inc. to
begin operating in our state. Since then, the TennesseeVirtualAcademy has achieved the lowest scores
possible (1 out of a potential 5) in all categories of the state’s TVAAS
grading system.

Rep. Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) introduced HB728, a bill to
repeal the portion of the 2011 that allowed for K12, Inc. to set up shop in Tennessee. During the hearing, Rep. Stewart laid out
overwhelming evidence that K12, Inc. has failed taxpayers and students,
questioning the millions in compensation their CEO has received, and asking
them to produce a detailed explanation of costs associated with the program. Watch the video.

Despite serious concerns, the Education Subcommittee voted
not to move the legislation forward to full committee. The administration has
introduced a bill that would give the Commissioner of Education authority to
close or cap enrollment for a virtual school if it continues to underperform,
but it was weakened in committee to remove the 5,000 total cap that was in the
original legislation.

In other news…

“Guns Everywhere” moving quickly through the legislature

HB118
by Rep. Jeremy Faison, a bill to allow handgun permit holders to bring
their weapons onto private property regardless of the wishes of the property
owner, has moved on to the Civil Justice full committee. Despite drawing the
ire of some of the biggest employers in the state such as Volkswagen, the House
Civil Justice Subcommittee moved the bill on a voice vote. Speaking out against
the legislation was Rep. Sherry Jones (D-Nashville) who sought clarification
that this bill would limit the property rights of business owners. Watch the video.

Bill to force seniors off of Medicare and into TennCare passes subcommittee

House Republicans have reintroduced legislation that failed
last year which would authorize the state to enter into a compact with other
states for the purposes of eliminating federal health care programs in those
states. The bill, HB536
by Rep. Mark Pody, would eliminate federal control of Medicare and put it
under the control of the state TennCare program. During the committee hearing,
Reps. David Shepard and Joanne Favors objected to the placement of this
legislation – which would dramatically alters the state budget and the health
care system in Tennessee – in the Insurance and Banking Committee instead of
the Health Committee where it was heard in the previous session. Watch the video.

The Week Ahead

The Legislature will be out of session on Monday in
recognition of President’s Day. Starting on Tuesday we can expect to have some
of the legislation mentioned above move into their full committee hearings
where more legislators will be allowed to weigh in on these laws being
proposed. Wednesday, the House will continue to hold hearings on the $32.6
billion budget proposed by the Governor.